Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

Today isn't just Tuesday, it's also the NFL trade deadline, which means there's a 47% chance that all hell is going to break loose over the next few hours. If a team wants to make a deal, they have until 4 p.m. ET to pull it off. We've already seen multiple big trades go down over the past 24 hours, including Roquan Smith being sent to Baltimore and the Lions shipping T.J. Hockenson off to Minnesota in a surprise trade between division rivals (For more on the Hockenson deal, be sure to click here). 

There will almost certainly be a few more trades today and since they will probably happen after this newsletter gets sent out, we've made it easy for you to stay updated on all the action. We'll be running a live blog that will cover every trade and you can check it out by clicking here. 

If you want to hang out with me later today, we'll be doing a live edition of the Pick Six podcast starting at 3:00 p.m ET and you can check that out on YouTube by clicking here. Alright, we've got a lot to cover today, so let's get to the rundown

As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the Pick Six newsletter. To get your friends to sign up, all you have to do is click here and then share this link with them. Let's get to the rundown. 

There is no team worse in primetime than the Cincinnati Bengals and they proved that once again on Monday with a 32-13 loss to the Browns. The Bengals have now lost 13 straight primetime road games, which is an NFL record. The team hasn't won a Monday road game SINCE 1990. Also, the Browns continued their domination in this series as this was their fifth straight win over the Bengals and their largest home win over Cincinnati since 1994. 

As the resident Bengals homer here at CBS Sports, I had to wear a Halloween mask on our postgame podcast because I was too embarrassed to show my face.  

Here are three key things from the game that Ryan Wilson, Will Brinson and I talked about on today's episode of the podcast: 

• Browns has their most impressive performance of the season.  With their season basically hanging in the balance, the Browns responded by dropping a bomb on the Bengals. In what was easily their most impressive performance of the year, the Browns played four quarters of nearly flawless football. Jacoby Brissett (278 passing yards and 1 TD) diced up the Bengals, while Nick Chubb (23 carries for 101 yards and two TDs) and Amari Cooper (five catches for 131 yards and one TD) both helped carry an offense that embarrassed a Bengals defense that had been one of the best in the NFL, especially in the second half. The Bengals hadn't given up a second half touchdown all year and the Browns got TWO. On Brissett's end, his passing total was a season-high and his best since 2019.  
• Bengals offense looks lost without Ja'Marr Chase.  From offense to defense to special teams, the Bengals melted down in every way that a team can melt down, and they did it under the national spotlight. In their first game without Ja'Marr Chase, the Bengals struggled to move the ball at all, and if that continues to be a theme going forward, this team could struggle to stay in the race for the AFC North title. With Chase out, it would have made sense to run the ball, but Zac Taylor refused to do that on a night where the Bengals only called 10 runs vs. 35 passes. With the Bengals passing on nearly every down, the Browns simply pinned their ears back and went after Burrow, who turned the ball over twice. The Bengals offense did show some flashes, but overall, it was a Halloween nightmare for Burrow and his offensive teammates.
• Bengals were a total failure. Even with the offense struggling, the thought was that that the Bengals defense could keep the team in this game, but the defense got beat down by the Browns. Even the normally reliable Evan McPherson had a bad night with a missed field goal and a missed extra point. This game was an all-around disaster for the Bengals, including a coaching staff that got outclassed by the Browns coaching staff. 
  
• Who's more likely to get to nine wins?  Going into Week 8, this probably would have been viewed as a laughable question, but now that the Browns (3-5) and Bengals (4-4) are just one game apart, it's not so crazy. If the Bengals offense can't move the ball without Chase, things could get ugly over the next few weeks. The Bengals have the Panthers, Steelers and Titans in their next three games and a 1-2 showing in that span would be devastating to their playoff chances considering how difficult the back end of their schedule is. As for the Browns, they still have the Texans, Saints, Commanders and Steelers on their schedule, which are games that all seem winnable on paper, plus they get Deshaun Watson back in Week 11. 

We talked about those four things, plus everything else you could possibly want to know about Monday's game. If you want to listen to the rest of our recap, be sure to click here. You can also watch today's episode on YouTube by clicking here. 

Last year, the Rams made a huge trade for a star defensive player (Von Miller) on the day before the trade deadline that helped catapult them to a Super Bowl win, and now, the Ravens are doing the same thing. Baltimore made a trade for Roquan Smith on Monday in a deal that will instantly improve the Ravens' defense.

The former Bears linebacker currently leads the NFL in tackles and also has the second-most tackles of any player in the NFL since his rookie year in 2018 (Only Bobby Wagner has more). The two-time All-Pro fills a huge need for the Ravens at linebacker, where Patrick Queen hasn't quite lived up to the expectations that come with being a former first-round pick. 

Here's a look at the trade details of their latest deal: 

• Ravens receive: Roquan Smith
• Bears receive: 2023 second-round pick, 2023 fifth-round pick and LB A.J. Klein
• Ravens will be paying Smith almost nothing. The linebacker is still due $5.408 million in base salary over the rest of the season, but as part of the deal, the Bears will be paying most of that. Under terms of the trade, the Bears will pay $4.833 million, which means the Ravens will only have to pay Smith $575,000 for nine games of action. 

For the Bears, this was an easy decision. Smith's contract is set to expire at the end of the year, which means they were going to have to give him a huge extension if they wanted to keep him. The new front office had no plans of giving Smith the deal he wanted so they shipped off to Baltimore and got two picks in return. 

For the Ravens, this move makes a lot of sense, but there are some question marks. From an on-field standpoint, the trade was a no-brainer: Baltimore's defense will be much better with Smith on the field and he might be the one guy the Ravens needed to put them over the top as a Super Bowl contender. The only questions mark here is whether the Ravens will be able to get a long-term extension done in the offseason. Smith is going to be able to command top dollar and if the Ravens aren't willing to pay him, then they gave up a lot to make a deal for a guy who they're only going to have for nine games. 

The Ravens also have the Lamar Jackson contract to worry about, so they'll have a lot on their plate going into the offseason. . 

TRADE GRADES

Whenever there's a trade, there's 100% chance we're going to hand out grades for that deal, and that's exactly what we did in this situation. 

The Smith trade was graded by CBSSports.com's Jeff Kerr and here's what he came up with:

• Ravens grade: B+. "The Ravens are certainly getting a playmaker on a defense who has turned things around over the last few weeks. Smith leads the NFL with 83 tackles and always has a knack for finding the football, having two interceptions and 2.5 sacks on the year. Not only has Smith recorded double-digit tackles in all but two games this season, but he has 100-plus tackles in all four of his NFL seasons. Whether the Ravens can sign Smith to a long-term deal will validate this trade, but Baltimore is going for it."
• Bears grade: B-.  "It's all about the rebuild in Chicago. Getting a second and fifth-round pick in this trade, along with Klein, is part of their rebuild. Chicago got three draft picks in return for Smith and Robert Quinn. They'll have a first, two seconds, a third, two fourth, two fifth, and a seventh in the 2023 draft. Those are picks that will definitely help the rebuilding process."

You can check out our full explanation for that grade and our grades for each trade before the deadline by clicking here.

With the trade deadline coming up in just a few hours (4 p.m. ET), Cody Benjamin decided to take a look at few players who could get dealt before the end of the day.

Here's a look at Cody's top candidates: 

• Browns RB Kareem Hunt. "Hunt has gone from pillar of Cleveland's heavy ground game to a clear secondary piece behind Nick Chubb, and he's been eyeing a new home since the summer."
• Texans WR Brandin Cooks. "Next to Hunt, no other player has drawn more recent buzz about a move, and Cook's resume is practically built on relocations. At 29, he's already been traded three times."
• Jaguars WR Marvin Jones. "At 2-6, the Jags got even more reason to look ahead to 2023. Jones is a respected locker-room presence and underrated contributor, but Christian Kirk, Zay Jones and Evan Engram are all ahead of him on the pecking order of Trevor Lawrence outlets. Jacksonville already traded James Robinson after Travis Etienne claimed the running back spot."
• Broncos OLB Bradley Chubb. "The biggest name of the bunch, Chubb is a vital piece of Denver's top-five-ranked defense. Approaching free agency, where he'll surely command a franchise tag or top-of-the-market extension, Chubb could easily draw at least a first-round pick."
• Colts RB Nyheim Hines. I'm also adding Hines to the list and that's because there's been a lot of chatter today that Hines is almost certainly going to be dealt. The Colts running back is a great weapon out of the backfield: He has at least 300 yards receiving in each of his first four seasons and is on pace to once again top that number with 188 yards through eight weeks this year. 

To check out Cody's full list, be sure to click here. 

The Cowboys are America's team and Pete Prisco lives in America, so I'm guessing that's why he finally relented and put Dallas in the top five of his power rankings. The Cowboys were the only team that jumped into the top five this week, but there was plenty of shuffling outside the top five. With that in mind, let's get to this week's power rankings. 

Here's a look at the top five teams heading into Week 9: 

1. Eagles
2. Bills
3. Chiefs 
4. Vikings 
5. Cowboys (Up from No. 6 last week)

Dropped out: Giants 

I'm not going to spoil the rest of the power rankings here, but I am going to give you a few nuggets. Here's what has changed since last week. 

• The biggest jump this week went to the Commanders, who catapulted up TWELVE SPOTS following their wild win over the Colts. Going into Week 8, the Commanders were ranked 30th, but Prisco now has them at 18th following their third straight win. 
• The Ravens, Dolphins and Broncos tied for the biggest jump in the AFC, with all three teams moving up three spots. The Ravens made the move from 11th to eighth while the Dolphins jumped up from 10th to seventh. As for the Broncos, they're now 24th after being ranked 27th last week. 
• The biggest drop this week went to the Giants. Prisco clearly thinks they're a bunch of frauds following their loss to the Seahawks. Thanks to the loss, the Giants fell a total of seven spots, from fifth down to 12th.  
• As for the bottom of the rankings, we have a new team in the NFL cellar! Going into Week 8, the Lions were ranked dead last, but after keeping it close with the Dolphins on Sunday, Prisco moved them up one spot to 31st. The new worst team is the Houston Texans, who are ranked 32nd overall for the second time this season.     
  

If you want to know where your favorite team ended up in Prisco's Week 9 Power Rankings, be sure to click here. If you want to argue with Prisco over his rankings, you can do that on Twitter by clicking here. I argue with him all the time about everything. 

If it's Tuesday, that can only mean one thing: It's time for my weekly picks. 

If this is your first season with us, here's how the formula works around here: I stay up until an insane hour every Monday night so that I can give you my picks every Tuesday morning. This newsletter will feature three of my picks, and then if you feel like reading the rest of them, you can do that below. 

Last week, I went 13-2 with my picks, so let's just go ahead and assume that I'm going to be even better this week and that all of my picks will be right. 

Here are three of my picks for Week 9:  

• Raiders (-1) at Jaguars (1 p.m. ET, CBS): I don't trust the Raiders offense in this game, but I also don't trust the Jaguars offense. However, I do trust Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson, who hasn't missed a field goal all year, so I'm going to say he kicks Las Vegas to a win here. PICK: Raiders 23-20 over Jaguars. 
• Rams at Buccaneers (-3) (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS):  I don't want to say that the season is over for the team that loses this game, but I kind of feel like the season is over for the team that loses this game, and I don't think Tom Brady is going to let that happen.  PICK: Buccaneers 23-17 over Rams.  
• Ravens at Saints (+3) (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC): Conventional wisdom says never pick Andy Dalton in a primetime game, but I've decided to throw conventional wisdom out the window this week. With the Saints playing at home in primetime, I feel like this is a good spot for them to pull off an upset. PICK: Saints 23-20 over Ravens. 

To check out the rest of my picks for Week 9, be sure to click here. 

It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. 

• Adam Zimmer passes away. Adam, the son of former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, has died at the age of 38, his sister Corri announced on Tuesday morning. Details on his cause of death aren't available at this point. Adam had been an assistant NFL coach since 2006 and most recently had been working for the Bengals, who hired him as an offensive analyst in July. 
• Colts fire offensive coordinator. For the second straight week, the Colts are shaking things up on offense. Last week, they benched Matt Ryan. This week, the team has decided to fire offensive coordinator Marcus Brady, who had been with the team since 2018. The Colts haven't been great on offense, but considering the QB situation Brady was handed, it's hard to blame him for Indy's struggles. 
• Tom Brady addresses divorce. The QB was asked about his divorce during his podcast on Monday and he described it as a very "amicable situation." If you want to check out Brady's full comments, be sure to click here.  
• Cooper Kupp tracking to play this week. It's looking like Kupp (ankle) will be available for this Sunday's huge game against the Buccaneers. Rams coach Sean McVay said on Monday he anticipates Kupp playing despite suffering what appeared to be a brutal ankle injury against the 49ers. 
• Rashod Bateman to miss multiple weeks. The Ravens don't have a lot of depth at receiver and things just got thinner with the loss of Bateman. John Harbaugh announced on Monday that Bateman will likely miss multiple weeks due to a foot injury. The Ravens did recently add DeSean Jackson and there's a chance that Jackson could play Monday against the Saints. 
  
• Lions fire their defensive backs coach. With the Lions on a five-game losing streak, heads are finally starting to roll in Detroit. Dan Campbell announced on Monday the dismissal of defensive Aubrey Pleasant, who has been serving as the team's defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator. 
  
• Dolphins offensive lineman out indefinitely. The Dolphins offensive line is taking a hit this week with the loss of Liam Eichenberg, who has started all eight games at left guard this season. Eichenberg strained his MCL in Miami's win over the Lions on Sunday and Mike McDaniel revealed on Monday that the injury would cause Eichenberg to "miss some time."
• Commanders could release William Jackson. The corner made a trade request after being benched earlier this year, but if the Commanders can't find a trading partner, there's a good chance they'll just end up releasing him, according to ESPN.com.